Iran: Steel production inches up y-o-y in first 4* months of current Persian year

• Semi-finished steel output inches down
  
  
• DRI production rises y-o-y
  
  

Iran's semi-finished steel production in the first four months of the current Persian year (21 March, 2024-20 July, 2024) stood at 11.03 million tonnes (mnt), a marginal decrease of 4% compared to the same period of last year, according to recent data released by the Petrometals.

Out of the total volume, production of billet and bloom were recorded at 6.80 mnt, down by 5% y-o-y, while slab output dropped slightly by 1% y-o-y to 4.23 mnt.

As per data, direct reduced iron (DRI) production stood at 14.45 mnt in the period under review, a rise of 11% compared to 13.01 mnt in the year-ago period. The reason for the significant growth of DRI production is the successful operation of new regeneration units in the winter of the previous year and the spring of the current year.

Outlook

Billet exporters have currently shifted their interest to DRI due to subdued demand in the billet export market which is expected to impact production volumes.

*Correction: Month changed to 4